If the Lord offered you anything, what would you ask? In fact, He’s already given us everything!
You would think, with the kingdom established, and Solomon soon to receive a three-fold gift from heaven, that 1 Kings 3 would be full of sunshine. Actually this is where the baleful music begins, ominously warning of trouble ahead. But doesn’t the chapter start with a wedding? And to a princess? “Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter” (v 1). But God had warned Israel not to intermarry with Gentiles: “Nor shall you make marriages with them….For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods” (Deut 7:3-4). Solomon took this practice to the extreme and, sure enough, it cost him his heart, as we will see. But there was another problem. “The people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. And Solomon loved the Lord…except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places” (1 Ki 3:2-3). Old habits die hard. Even after the temple was built, time and again they returned to the high places, home of Canaanite idols. Solomon’s journey to the high place at Gibeon was certainly eventful. “Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar” (v 4). That night, in a dream, the Lord graciously met with him and said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” (v 5). Imagine—anything you want! Wisely, he asked for—wisdom. Well, not exactly. “Give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people” (v 9) was his request. The Lord was pleased and not only gave him that, but also “riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days” (v 13). Riches for the body; honor for the soul; understanding for the spirit. But how hard it is to carry a full cup.